Japan sees joint hottest summer on record

This summer tied with last year’s for Japan’s hottest on record, with the three months between June and August being 1.76 degrees Celsius hotter than average, the Meteorological Agency said Monday.
The second-hottest summer was in 2010, when it was 1.08 C higher than average, illustrating the extent of…[Read more]

Japan’s aging population crisis heightens as almost 40,000 died in 2024 so far

Japan’s National Police Agency recently released a report in which it revealed that nearly 40,000 individuals in the country died alone in their homes in the first half of 2024, the BBC reported.

According to the report, almost 4,000 of the dead were not discovered…[Read more]

Nearly 40,000 people died home alone in Japan this year, report says

Almost 40,000 people died alone in their homes in Japan during the first half of 2024, a report by the country’s police shows.
Of that number, nearly 4,000 people were discovered more than a month after they died, and 130 bodies went unmissed for a year before they were found, a…[Read more]

Typhoon Shanshan causes widespread Japan disruption

Trains and flights have been cancelled in Japan as one of the strongest typhoons to hit the country in decades drenches cities in its path.

At least six people have been killed and more than 100 injured after Typhoon Shanshan made landfall in the south-western Japan on Thursday.
Now downgraded…[Read more]

Japan rail disruption spreads as typhoon crawls eastward

Disruption to shinkansen bullet train services in Japan continued Saturday as slow-moving Typhoon Shanshan lingered in western Japan, causing heavy rain in wider parts of the country.

JR Central will continue suspending many trains on its Tokaido Shinkansen Line on Sunday, mainly affecting…[Read more]

Far-right AfD eyes big gains in German elections

Voters in Germany’s two eastern states are due to cast their ballots in elections in which the far right is expected to perform strongly.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been polling top in Thuringia ahead of Sunday’s vote, while the party has been running neck-and-neck for first place with…[Read more]

Austria to work with Germany on deportations of people with criminal records to Afghanistan

Austria’s Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum has said that deportations to Afghanistan are permissible on a case-by-case basis due to the changed security situation in the country.

Austria has fallen in line with Germany and said it intends to…[Read more]

Germany expels head of banned Muslim association

Germany has told the Iranian head of the recently banned Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) that he is being expelled from the country and has two weeks to leave, authorities in Hamburg said on Thursday.
The interior ministry of the German city state of Hamburg said in a statement that it had informed…[Read more]

Germany deports 28 Afghans for first time since 2021 Taliban takeover

‘Our security counts,’ German interior minister says as government confirms those deported are convicted criminals.

Germany has deported 28 Afghan nationals charged with criminal acts, in the first such move since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 202…[Read more]

Deportation flight leaves Germany for Afghanistan

A flight has taken off from an airport in eastern Germany deporting individuals to Afghanistan. It is the first deportation of Afghans since the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021.

A deportation flight to Afghanistan has left Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport, the Interior Ministry for the state…[Read more]

Germany: Several killed in stabbing at Solingen street party

Police have launched a manhunt after a man killed three people and seriously injured five more with a knife. The attack took place as the city of Solingen was celebrating its 650th anniversary.

Three people were killed and five seriously injured in a knife attack in the western German…[Read more]

German police yet to identify attacker who stabbed 3 to death at festival despite major manhunt

A major manhunt is underway in Germany after an attacker stabbed to death three people at a festival on Friday evening in the western city of Solingen but police say they are yet to identify the suspect.

Police said a 15-year-old boy was arrested on…[Read more]

Solingen stabbing: Three killed in attack at Germany festival

Police say search under way for unknown assailant after attack on festivalgoers that injured eight people.

Police in Germany are searching for an unidentified suspect behind a mass stabbing at a festival in the western city of Solingen in which three people were killed.

Eight people…[Read more]

France: Macron says arson attack on synagogue ‘terrorist’

Two cars were torched near a French synagogue in the town of La Grande-Motte, with one of the vehicles exploding and injuring a police officer. President Emmanuel Macron described it as a “terrorist act.”

French authorities condemned an attack targeting a Jewish synagogue in the southern…[Read more]

TICAD ministerial meeting starts in Tokyo

A two-day ministerial meeting for the International Conference on African Development, or TICAD, has opened in Tokyo, with delegates from 47 African nations taking part.

Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko, who is the chairperson of the meeting, has asked participants to hold talks on the future of…[Read more]

Govt. to present outline of assistance for fisheries industry next week

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has indicated that the government will present an outline of support measures for the fisheries industry, which has been affected by China’s suspension of Japanese seafood imports.

Kishida announced this during a visit to a fish market in Iwaki…[Read more]

Typhoon Shanshan expected to approach Japan from Tuesday

Typhoon Shanshan is expected to approach western to eastern Japan from Tuesday without losing most of its power. Heavy rain may start even before the typhoon approaches.

The Japan Meteorological Agency says that as of 3 p.m. on Saturday, Shanshan is moving northward over waters near the…[Read more]

Japan’s economy rebounds strongly on consumption boost, backs case for more rate hikes

Japan’s economy expanded by a much faster-than-expected annualised 3.1% in the second quarter, rebounding from a slump at the start of the year thanks to a strong rise in consumption and backing the case for another near-term interest rate hike.
The Bank of…[Read more]

In Japan’s ageing countryside, some villages face extinction

Japan has an estimated 9 million abandoned homes as rural areas grapple with rapid population decline.

Nanmoku, Japan – Like all bakers, their day starts before dawn.

Hours later, as the mid-afternoon light streams through the windows of their kitchen, Masayuki Kaneta, 85, and his son…[Read more]

Japan’s embattled PM had a cruel summer – it ended with his exit

It’s been a cruel summer for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
A series of scandals that implicated the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Mr Kishida’s closest allies within it and even his family had put his job on the line.
That this happened as living costs shot up and…[Read more]